Are static fields open for garbage collection?

Given an hypothetical utility class that is used only in program setup:

class MyUtils {
   private static MyObject myObject = new MyObject();
   /*package*/static boolean doStuff(Params... params) {
       // do stuff with myObject and params...
   }
}

will myObject be garbage collected when it is no longer being used, or will it stick around for the life of the program?

Solution 1:

Static variables cannot be elected for garbage collection while the class is loaded. They can be collected when the respective class loader (that was responsible for loading this class) is itself collected for garbage.

Check out the JLS Section 12.7 Unloading of Classes and Interfaces

A class or interface may be unloaded if and only if its defining class loader may be reclaimed by the garbage collector [...] Classes and interfaces loaded by the bootstrap loader may not be unloaded.

Solution 2:

Static variables are referenced by Class objects which are referenced by ClassLoaders -so unless either the ClassLoader drops the Class somehow (if that's even possible) or the ClassLoader itself becomes eligible for collection (more likely - think of unloading webapps) the static variables (or rather, the objects they reference) won't be collected.